I'm going to sound really mean here, but to me it seems like Luke is too dependent on Margie. Every time something gets slightly hard for him, his first response is to turn around and repeatedly ask for Margie's help, even in Roadblocks, which he knows are one person only. (This is most apparent in the bobsled task.)

Fair enough if he needs her to sign something to him so he knows what somebody has said, but his actions remind me quite painfully of Christina's oh-so-annoying "Daddy..." whine.

I'm going to sound really mean here, but to me it seems like Luke is too dependent on Margie. Every time something gets slightly hard for him, his first response is to turn around and repeatedly ask for Margie's help, even in Roadblocks, which he knows are one person only. (This is most apparent in the bobsled task.)

Fair enough if he needs her to sign something to him so he knows what somebody has said, but his actions remind me quite painfully of Christina's oh-so-annoying "Daddy..." whine.

/rant

But I still love them...

Well, it would be hard to be independent if he depends on her to communicate with the world, though he said he wants to need her less

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The story so far:In the beginning the Universe was created.This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move

Luke Adams, who is profoundly deaf, and mom Margie have been dominating the field this season, showing no mercy to fellow travellers.

Posted: 2:25 amMarch 23, 2009

A reality show is nothing without personalities you love, those you love to hate, and those you want to bungee off a cliff and not spring back.

In a very competitive new season of "The Amazing Race" filled with sexy former NFL cheerleaders, annoyingly attractive young couples and standout stuntmen the watercooler-worthy team people are talking about is the affable mother-and-son pair Margie and Luke Adams.

Or maybe it would be more appropriate to say, signing about.

They have won two out of five challenges thus far and are clearly the front-runners to win the $1 million prize. Not too shabby, considering that, at 51 years old, Margie is among the older contestants and Luke, 22, is profoundly deaf.

Luke's deafness might initially seem like a speedbump, if not a roadblock, to the team's success. But Margie and Luke came into the competition having long ago mastered one of the game's essential skills: communication.

Make no mistake, to win the "Race" like "Survivor" requires physical strength and stamina, street smarts and a fair amount of luck. When racing over 40,000 miles in 22 days to win a million bucks, it's best to get along and above all, understand each other.

But unlike "Survivor," this is a team game, and knowing how your teammate will react or perform is critical to your success. Margie and Luke anticipate the other's every move and use their own sign language system to talk.

Years of learning to understand each other without speaking means they have been able to strategize using only gestures.

They are mentally in-sync at all times, giving them an edge over teams like Cara Rosenthal and Jaime Edmondson whose bond was formed at tryouts for the Miami Dolphin cheerleading team and flight attendants Jodi Winchesker and Christie Volkmer who share a knowledge of the travel industry and, apparently, the benefits of peroxide.

Margie and Luke are likeable, but what has made them the most talked-about team is their ruthlessness.

Luke's tendency to mock his whining opponents caused one contestant to label him "the sinister deaf kid."

Knowing that only his mom will understand what he's saying, Luke often signs that he hopes the other teams miss their flights or similar "Race" calamities, and he constantly rolls his eyes when talking about his opponents.

The willingness of mother and son to invoke little-used options (like the "Blind U-Turn") to push already-trailing opponents farther behind in the race shows an unusual intensity even by reality TV standards.

In true parent/child fashion, they have quibbled over strategies like what detours to take, how to drive a Russian snowplow and how to carry 200 pounds of cheese down a steep Swiss hill. But in the end, Luke shrugs and says, "What can I do? She's my mom."

One footnote: all of the married or dating teams in the competition this season have already been eliminated.

do you think Luke didn't know that a deaf people won the Amazing Race Asia 2 ?

Haha, I knew about Adrian winning Amazing Race Asia 2 with his team partner, Colin. I mentioned it several times during the casting finals last summer to remind them that Asia version cast a deaf guy on the race and he won the race so it means that I could do it too. Even, I told the producers that if Adrian and Colin made it to the Final Three then my mom and I will make it to the Final Three too. That was back in July! Producers actually thought that I was little over-confident and cocky when I said that but turned out we made it to the end anyway! I thought that was funny. Now, Adrian and I are emailing each other and trying to find a way to meet up at some point.

There are several of us who keep episode videos (better quality than Youtube, at least); just let us know which scenes/viewpoints you want.As for the first race hours, I wouldn't want to put you in any difficulty; It was just something I was curious about.

The part where my mom and I reacted to Phil of which place we got. I have never thought in a million years that my mom and I would finished every leg in Top Four for entire race! I remember one time when I was thinking, "Man, we probably are screwed." when we're on our way to India since the legs in India are usually so difficult but man! I'm glad we barely made it through since Christie + Jodi and Mark + Mike only finished ten minutes behind us!

The part where my mom and I reacted to Phil of which place we got. I have never thought in a million years that my mom and I would finished every leg in Top Four for entire race! I remember one time when I was thinking, "Man, we probably are screwed." when we're on our way to India since the legs in India are usually so difficult but man! I'm glad we barely made it through since Christie + Jodi and Mark + Mike only finished ten minutes behind us!

Sorry for babbling. :-p

Please don't be sorry its not babbling to us its interesting and we appreciate you being here and sharing your experience Luke!

do you think Luke didn't know that a deaf people won the Amazing Race Asia 2 ?

Haha, I knew about Adrian winning Amazing Race Asia 2 with his team partner, Colin. I mentioned it several times during the casting finals last summer to remind them that Asia version cast a deaf guy on the race and he won the race so it means that I could do it too. Even, I told the producers that if Adrian and Colin made it to the Final Three then my mom and I will make it to the Final Three too. That was back in July! Producers actually thought that I was little over-confident and cocky when I said that but turned out we made it to the end anyway! I thought that was funny. Now, Adrian and I are emailing each other and trying to find a way to meet up at some point.

I think that's awesome you guys are trying to meet. Adrian & Collin were among my favorite racers in TARA2. Fun people and I was so happy they won.

Hi, Luke. Since it seems the next season will kick off soon, I got a little curious about last season's first hours. A few questions, if you don't mind.

Did the helicopters actually transport the teams from another location to Los Alamitos, or was it just a circle trip for the purpose of taking video?

Was there base activity during the shoot (tractor photo), or was that staged for the cameras?

Where were the MediaDay interviews done?

I can answer some of this:

Helicopter ride was just a circuit starting and ending at Los Alamitos.

Apparently normal base activity was going on. I was told at one point they had to stop someone from driving a tractor as it was interfering w/ sound. That was apparently also the cause of most filming delays...the sound man could hear a plane flying overhead or some other engine noise from far away and teams would have to pause until it stopped.

Media day was at CBS studios in the same bldg where they tape "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson".

Thanks to some help from some friends!

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